Learnings from tractor incident
A near miss experienced by a North Island farmer worker when their tractor ‘park’ gear failed, has been shared as the latest Safety Alert from Safer Farms.
With farm vehicle accidents far too frequent it’s interesting that the Blackhawk, from Farm Angel, can be a life saver.
It can’t prevent an accident, but it can keep a watchful eye on riders or drivers and raise an alert if something goes wrong.
On a quad, side-by-side or any other vehicle, sensors continuously monitor speed, acceleration and GPS co-ordinates, and an inclinometer detects lean. If it detects a roll-over it sends a message via satellite to the home base, prompting action, and in the worse cases calls emergency services out within the ‘magic hour’ to the seriously injured.
The message contains GPS co-ordinates, especially good on large properties. The use of geo-stationary satellites means no reliance on mobile phones which might have poor coverage in remote areas.
The system can also be specified to allow the vehicle operator to send and receive text messages via satellite link, up to 10m from their machine – good for emergency or breakdown.
And there’s a security angle: the Blackhawk can be used as a tracker if a vehicle is pinched, and its ignition system can be shut down remotely.
Halo tags allow only authorised employees to start the machine, and management gets to see where and when it is being used. The tag has a small panic button in case the operator gets into trouble and needs to summon help.
A snoop feature allows monitoring of operator behaviour: it will keep an eye on novice riders, or discourage bad behaviour, looking at speed, acceleration and braking, and so encourage responsible and safe operation.
Packages are priced from $19/month and can be tailored to suit all enterprises.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
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